Pleasure-railway.



J. BEHR, JR. PLEASURE RAILWAY. AFPLICAITIQN' FILED FEB. 11. 1917.

1,24%,41 1. Patented Oct. 23,1917.

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J. BEHR, JR.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION man FEB. 11. 1911.

- $134433 1 Patented 00$. 23,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR 02%ZZE6/5J ATTORNEY WITNESSES Jenn 3min, an]; or QdiflDDlILE YIQl'iAQE, nnw YonK.

swarm-R e e Application filedFebruary 17, 1917. Serial No. 149,353:

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that '1, JOHN Berna, Ja acltlzen of the United States, residing at 8 Hopper Ave, Middle Village,-Long Island, in the county ofQueens and State of New proveinents in Pleasure-Railways, of which the following is a'spec fication."

York, have invented new and useful lm- This invention relates to 'toyrailwaysand also tothose intended forpleasure riding or amusement; andthe object of the same is to produce a toy or 7 meny o-mund 'of this kind in which a circulartrack isgiven a gyrating motion so that a carer cars'will travel thereon automatically and by'gmn and momentum;

This object is carried out by the machine whose details arehereinafter described and claimed, and as shown "the drawings whereinz Figure l isa general perspective view-0f this machinecomplete.

Fig. 2 is a detailof the step bearing-of theiinain shaftl V a i i F 3 is a vertical sectional view through thedrivingmechanism for the upper end of the main shaft; and theii'neans for-supporting'the same.

Fig. 4 'is a horizontalsection on the line {l4of Fig.1. 7

Fig. 5is a detail showing one of the rebounding, springs as contacting with an 'ob- ,struction such as a partial the base.

The base'coinprises crossed beams 1 which maybe ofany suitable length and number, and at their point of crossing whichiis the Icenter of thefe'ntire device is 'supported'a step bearing best, seen in Fig. 2." Thisfinay be a castingQhaving a socket '3 fori, the

inain shafts which stands substantially upright and has a reduced and nearly pointed tip 5 at its lower end resting said'socket. From this point the casting leads to one side andhas a sleeve 6 supporting an upright standard 7 which is tubular'at its upper end, and at its upper eXtremity carries an: arm S leading in the same direction and to the same extent as the length of the casting so thatthe free end of the" arm stands directly over the socket 3. Thefarm carries a bearing, which in Fig. 4 is shown as aringil fora purpose yet to be described. Mounted within the tubular upper portion of the standard is the shank l'? "sea" movable bracket, capable 'of adjustment by means of aset screw lfi or other device, and this brewket has horizontal l8, oyer- Specification of Letters Patent.

BatentedOct. 213, 1,913

lying the arm 8 and supporting at its free end a motor which I have shown diagrammatically in the drawings and numbered 19. Thismotor may be driven by springs, by steam, by electricity, or by other suitable means, the motive agent forming no part of the present invention, but it is desirable that the power shaft 12 shall be movable vertically through the motor and shall; have a handle :11 at its upper end and be squared or made angular at its lowerend as at 1 0,

whereby the shaft may be slipped downward so that the squared lower end shall pass through the bearing 9 or the-center of the ring shown in Fig. 4.

The railway is broadly designated by the letter'R, and thecar by the letter C. The construction ofthe latter is entirely unimportant, but by preference it travels on wheels which in turn travel on rails 20 connected by ties2l and forming an annulai' or ringshape'd track which is of considerable size. The trackis carried on a large spider 23 whose arms or bars are two-in number in the drawings, one crossing the other at the center of the'ring and the outer ends of each supporting the track or railway; and at the jpointfof crossing these arms are secured rigidly upon the main shaft 4. I havelshown but a single car 0, and it travels on'the rails 20 of the track, its movement being continuous and in one direction only. 'I have omitted the platform and the station where the passengers alight from the car and give their places to another group as usual where the device-is adapted for use as an amusement railway or merry-go-round. I haveshown but two cross barsin the spider, but obviously there could be a greater number, and ,I have notthoughtit necessary to show braces which will be provided to holdthe ears. All these details maybe left to the manufacturer and 'user. ""Rotatably =1'no'unted w1th1n the ring or hearing 9 1s an eccentric impeller, herein as 'consisting'bf adisk 30 whose periphery moves within the ring and whose center has a squared hole 31 for receiving the squared portion 10 of the power shaft 12 when said shaft is pressed downward by means of its handle. The disk also carries an off-center or eccentric bearing in. the shape of a round hole 32 through which loosely projects the upper end of the main shaft 4 as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4.

With this construction of parts, when the motor is started and the power shaft en gaged with the impeller disk, the rotation of the latter swings the upper end vof the main shaft around a circle whose radius is the same as the distance between the holes 31 and Meanwhile the lower end of this shaft is stepped inthe hearing or socket 3 wherein it fits loosely. The spider fast on the main shaft carries the railway R, and therefore the movement of the shaft imparts a gyrating motion to the entire railway so that any given point rises and falls rather slowly and in direct opposition to a point diametrically opposite. and this tilting or gyrating movement of the railway is con tinued so that the car C is caused to travel always down hill because the track immediately in rear of it is continuously rising.

I wish it understood that the railway does not revolve, as the shaft 4c is not rotated but simply moved around a circle by the impeller as described.

At appropriate points on the railway, and preferably at the outer ends of the bars 22 and 23, are mounted springs, herein shown in the shape of large loops 35, and when any point descends it is the intention that this spring shall strike the ground or perhaps the base 1 and cause this point to rebound if the movement is rapid, or in any event to rise again under the expansion force of the spring when thus ClQPIQSSQCl. This detail is provided to assist the low side of the railway in rising, because it is obvious that when the main shaft and everything carried thereby is tilted to one side, that side becomes a little heavier and needs some assistance in order that it may regain its original horizontal position without throwing undue resistance on the motor and the impeller. It is quite possible that the degree of gyration may be altered, whereas the speed of movement is of course con trolled by advancing or retarding the rotation of the motor 19.

The invention when used as a pleasure railway of this kind may be installed at seaside resorts, on playgrounds, or within any suitable inclosure, and it can be driven by any appropriate power which is available. If properly built, it needs little or no attention as there are few moving and wearing parts and little mechanism to get eeann ard, and a. horizontal disk revolved by said motor and having an off-center hole; of a car, a substantially circular track on which the car is mounted, an upright shaft mounted at its lower end in said step bearing and at its upper end in said hole, a spider carried by the shaft and supporting said track, and looped springs depending from the arms of the spider and adapted to strike the beams of the base successively as the track is gyrated.

2. In an amusement device of the class described, the combination with a practically horizontal member having an annular track around it, a practically upright shaft fixed through said member, and a step bearing for supporting the lower end of the shaft; of a ring bearing directly above said step bearin an impeller mounted in said ring bearing and having an off-center connection with the upper end of said shaft and an tubular at its upper end, its upper extremity raving a lateral arm with an annular bearing directly above said step bearing, a bracket having a shank adjustably mounted in the tubular upper end of the standard and a lateral arm overlying that of the standard, and a motor carried vby the lastnamed arm; of a gyrating skeleton platform including a spider through which said standard extends and an annular track carried by the spider, a main shaft fast through the center of the spider and stepped at its lower end in said lower bearing, a rotary impeller mounted in said upper bearing and driven by said motor. and an off-center connection between the'iinpeller and the upper end of said shaft.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN BEHR, JR. Witness: WM. A. FLUHR.

topics or this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the nom nates-loner otfatenta, Washington, G. 

